Step by Step Guide: How to Fit and Wear a NATO Strap on my Watch [+Videos]

Have you ever thought about buying a NATO strap, do you want one but don't know how it works, do you think you would need the help of an expert to fit it?

NATO straps are one of the best options to give a new life to your watch and they are much easier to use and change than you might think.

Without a doubt they are MUST for any watch lover. But many times fear, ignorance, especially if you are just starting to get into this world make you stop from buying one.

That is why we have decided to create this guide, in which we are going to explain why and how a NATO strap works.

In addition, there is also a step-by-step video guide so that you can change a strap yourself at home, without anyone's help.

For the more advanced we will give you 4 innovative ways to wear a NATO strap to make it more aesthetically pleasing.

Advantage of wearing a NATO Strap

This military touch that NATO straps have, makes it a very versatile strap and its modernisation makes it aesthetically more and more interesting and does not detract from the elegance of a classic watch.

If you are still not convinced to have at least one NATO strap in your collection, here are the main advantages of NATO straps:

• They are extremely durable: These straps will stand up to anything, and when I say anything I really mean they will stand up to anything you throw at them. Think of them as being born for war.
• A pleasure in summer: They are much lighter and breathable so in summer they are an absolute plus for anyone, we know how annoying leather or metal straps are in summer.
• Let's continue with their lightness: They weigh very little which means that you hardly feel anything on your wrist.
• Obviously waterproof: Although all straps are theoretically waterproof, the reality is that a metal or leather strap will be affected if it gets wet, with a NATO strap it practically doesn't matter how many times you get it wet.
• The great advantage, its security: They are made to be secure by design, if the strap breaks you will not run the risk of losing the watch at any time as this strap will hold on.
• They are beautiful: There are multiple designs, with numerous patterns, numerous colours, perfect to match any watch for different occasions.
• They are easy to change: In 30 seconds you have a different strap on, you can wear one for every day, one for every occasion.

How does a NATO strap work

NATO straps are a very interesting way to wear a watch, because their design allows you to change the strap and the whole look of the watch in seconds, so you can wear "a different watch" for every occasion.

What makes it so interesting is how it works, it is a one-piece Nylon strap that is usually embedded underneath the dial between the springbars, it folds back on itself, and is secured by a buckle.

And it is because of this that the strap will always stay centred and secure on your wrist no matter what, in fact, if one side of the strap were to break, the watch face would still be held in place.

This strap was a military contribution, which is why its comfort and security always go hand in hand and why it is so simple to operate.

How to install step by step NATO Strap in my Watch

As we have already mentioned, putting a NATO strap on your watch is something very easy that anyone can do without having to go to a watchmaker.

Once you do it for the first time you will be able to do it all the time, easily and by heart and the best thing is that you will be able to change the strap as many times as you want.

Let's start from the assumption that you have a strap (either leather or metal) already installed, then the first thing to do is to get a springbar tool. You can also do it without but it is more complex.

Once you have your tool you can start the process:

1. Push the springbars in with the tool and pull the first piece out of your strap. For the moment you can leave the springbar inside the piece, we will use them later. If it is a bracelet you will have to do the same but with both sides to pull out the strap at once.
2. If your strap is leather, do the same with the other piece. Now you have both pieces of your strap off.
3. Now you will have your dial without springbars and your strap on the other side, now take out the springbars (you can also leave them if you have others, we always give two of them in the orders).
4. Once you have the springbars  in your hand again thanks to the tool, put them back on the watch face without the strap.
5. Now you have your watch face ready to add the strap. Take the strap and remove the tongue from the keepe.
6. Take the watch face from 12 o'clock and insert the strap inside the springbar, the strap should now slide and sit just below the watch face.
7. Now take the end of the strap you just inserted and insert it under the second pin in the 6 o'clock direction and push until the strap is fully extended. You're almost there!
8. Now take the end of the strap that you have just inserted and insert it under the second pin in the 6 o'clock direction and push until the strap is fully extended. You're almost there!
9. It only remains to make it more secure so that it never falls off or gets lost, as you can see now, there is a part of the strap left over, the keeper, so take the tongue of the strap already installed and insert it inside the keeper.
10. And voila. It is already installed, now you just have to put it on your wrist and simply make the fold with the leftover part to adjust it perfectly (later I will show you how to avoid this if you don't like it).

Now you have your NATO strap on, I hope this guide will help you but just in case, I leaved you here a video so you can do it at the same time.

How to fit and wear my NATO Strap in my watch

It is one thing to put your NATO strap on a watch as you have already done and quite another to fit and wear it. There are many ways to wear a NATO strap and adjust it according to your taste and preferences.

So here I am going to show you what are undoubtedly the best ways to wear a NATO strap.

The traditional way

The traditional and most known way to wear your NATO strap is the one I have shown you in the first video, you have seen the step by step guide and you have the video above, if you have scrolled down just to see this section I advise you to scroll up to see the video again.

Backwards NATO

This is very similar to the traditional way but certainly looks a bit better for those who don't like the fold of the strap on the top side. If you want to wear your NATO strap backwards here is the step by step:

1. This time we start the other way round, inserting the tongue of the NATO through the dial by the 6 o'clock position of the watch.
2. Now we pass the tongue of the watch under the dial and through the 12 o'clock.
3. Centre the watch so that it fits perfectly
4. Insert the strap through the keeper.
5. Put it on your wrist and fold the excess strap around.

As you can see, it is the same as the traditional way, but the excess strap is on the bottom side, which for some people makes it more aesthetic. A matter of taste.

A more innovative way

The big detractors of NATO straps say that they don't buy NATOS because it makes the strap too big and they don't like the excess strap.

Well, there are ways to wear them that avoid this, so you can no longer say you don't like NATO straps.

In this first way we are going to see how to avoid the excess of straps on the underside of the watch.

Let's go with the first way to wear a NATO strap in a more "aesthetic" way, and I put that in inverted commas.

1. We will start in the same way as the traditional way by inserting the tongue of the strap underneath the dial at 12 o'clock and passing it underneath at 6 o'clock as well.
2. Now instead of passing the tongue of the watch through the keeper we are going to move the keeper away by sticking it with the 12 o'clock loop of the watch. To do this we put the watch face down.
3. Now we put the wrist inside the watch, take the tongue, and pass it through the first loop (the one on the keeper).
4. We adjust, and continue to pass it through the main loop of the watch, we tie it, and we fold the excess of the watch, and that's it. That's it. Now it looks much tighter.

We like the style of this strap a lot, one way more to wear your NATO Strap.

Without the excess of the Strap

This is without a doubt the most sought after and for aesthetics lovers the best way to wear your NATO strap as it eliminates that fold that can be annoying to the eye according to some.

So there, to do it this way follow these steps:

1. To do this we will start as always in the traditional way by adding the tongue of the strap underneath the dial starting at 12 o'clock and ending at 6 o'clock.
2. Like the previous way, this time we will not insert it through the keeper either, now put the watch upside down.
3. Here comes the magic, instead of tying it as before, what you are going to do is to centre the watch face until the loop of the keeper is right in the middle of the watch.
4. Now we glue the keeper to the first loop as before and pass the tongue through the keeper and through the loop.
5. Now, not allowing the tongue to come out through the loop and the keeper, we are going to put our wrist inside the keeper to tie the watch.
6. Tie the watch and fold the small excess strap under the second loop.

That's it! Now you can see how good the strap looks, without this fold.

How to shorten my NATO strap

We have seen the easiest ways to wear your NATO strap in a different way to make it more aesthetic, but you can also shorten it. Although there will be no video here because we honestly think it's sacrilege.

And we don't want any NATO straps to be damaged in this recording process. Protect your straps!

But in case you want to do it this is what you should do:

1. Take a coin and lower it a few centimetres from the tip of the strap's tongue. The coin is used to simulate the same semicircle as the finish of the coin itself.
2. Take a pair of scissors and trim off the excess.
3. Now take a lighter and apply heat so that the Nylon will fit and not fray later.

Then there's also another way you can do this that is also effective. And it's basically to try to simulate a single pass strap.

1. Take a pair of scissors (use a strong one) and turn the strap inside out.
2. Cut as close to the fold as possible and cut the keeper flap.
3. Then take a lighter and apply fire to the Nylon you have cut so that it doesn't fray and you will leave it sealed.

And now you have your strap ready to wear.

How to install a Single Pass NATO Strap

Now, if you don't want to damage any strap, or if you want to make the strap fit your wrist and watch much better by eliminating that possible excess strap, our recommendation is to buy a Single Pass strap.

They are just as easy to install as the others, but just in case, here is a step-by-step video:

Use it, wear it, change them and enjoy them.

As you have seen there are multiple ways to wear a NATO strap, which is without a doubt a huge advantage over other straps. Those of us who love NATO straps know what we're talking about.

Our personal favourite is the traditional way and what we find most aesthetically pleasing is without a doubt the way in which there is no excess strap visible at the fold. The only thing we don't recommend is to cut your straps, for that buy a Single Pass.

Did you know any of these ways to wear your NATO? What is your favourite way to wear a NATO? We'd love to hear from you.